Spooky Ramadan

By Ginan Rauf

Think of Ramadan in Iraq. One thinks of Ramadan with a heavy heart. Think of the children in Iraq today and then think of how American children celebrate Halloween.

Let’s get to the quick here—freedom means nothing without security. You cannot bring freedom without first establishing peace. Secure your person, for without life there is no liberty. Life precedes freedom and justice for all. And freedom entails mobility, and war torn cites are hardly good sites for promenades, let alone Halloween parades.

Even journalists cannot leave their hotel rooms. Now how free is that? How can you protest when you don’t even know what is going on? It would seem to me that protest is another important component of freedom. Look how much freedom we seem to be willing to give up in the name of security. So let’s stop judging people who have had the living daylights bombed out of them. They may not want our particular brand of freedom. It’s not much fun.

Now think of your own children again. Would you let them go trick-or-treating in Baghdad? There’s not much chance of that. Here in America we quake with fear if they don’t have a car seat, are unbuckled, or go biking without a helmet. Chances are they’d get more tricks than treats in Baghdad anyway. Now that’s a spooky Ramadan. How about security for Eid? Now that would be a real treat! Not much chance of that, bogus elections for the New Year aside!

Ginan Rauf is a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University currently completing a dissertation in comparative literature focusing on Arab migrant communities, including the Mizrahim. She is an Arab-American worried about the direction of her country.